Woman hospitalized after being hit by cable car

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A woman was hospitalized with head injuries after being struck by a cable car early Wednesday morning.

The woman, who hasn’t been identified, was hit by the cable car on Mason Street near Broadway at 5:57 a.m., according to the San Francisco Fire Department. She was transported to San Francisco General Hospital, although the extent of her injuries remain unknown, the fire department said.

The cable car was traveling on Mason Street toward Fisherman’s Wharf when it struck the woman, according to San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency spokesman Judson True. No other details were immediately available about the incident, which is being investigated by the San Francisco Police Department.

Both the conductor and the gripman operating the cable car have been placed on administrative leave and tested for drugs and alcohol, which is standard procedure following such incidents, True said.

Service to the Powell-Mason line was disrupted for a little more than an hour following the incident, True said. The cable cars were replaced by bus shuttles on Mason Street until normal operations were restored on the line, True said.

Wednesday’s incident follows a few other notable mishaps this summer involving the cable cars, which Muni officials frequently refer to as “rolling historic landmarks.”

In July, a cable car derailed on the corner of Powell and Washington streets after both conductors got out of the vehicle to push it. Neither was able to get back on the car before it jumped off the tracks at the intersection, injuring four passengers.

On Aug. 29, two cable cars collided, injuring the operators of both vehicles, neither of which was carrying passengers.Muni has also experienced problems this year with other service carriers.

On Aug. 5, two of Muni’s historic street cars collided on the Embarcadero, injuring 14 passengers. One of the operators involved in the accident was warned just an hour before by a supervisor that she was traveling too close behind the other streetcars on the Embarcadero.

And in June, a light rail vehicle traveling above the speed limit hit a train stopped at the corner of King Street, near the Giants’ ballpark. Sixteen people were injured in the crash.